Thank you so much for the reviews! So there you go, enjoy the chapter;)
Three years. Another three fucking years and she still couldn't recover. Of course that she was trying to find Regina. It was the first thing on her mind, but after a year of searching, she began to lose hope and after five years, she's completly lost it. She didn't have anything, not even the phone number. Regina's apartment was empty now. The company didn't want to give her any information. The only thing that she managed to find out, was the name of Regina's mother, Cora. And she could bet that it was Cora's fault that she wasn't able to find Regina.
What about her arm? The stitches were gone, but she was far from good. Increasingly it was numb and things were slipping out of her hand. Since she's left that apartment, she wasn't able to feel the warmth under her fingers. It was like her hand was connected somehow to her heart. It either felt cold, or nothing at all.
It was June. Since it was warm outside, she was ordered to patrol the parks. Lately drunk people started to appear there, scaring the children and disrupting the rest. So there she was, in her white tank top, skinny jeans and red trainers. That color somehow reminded her of the other woman. A badge and a gun she wore at her belt. She learned to handle a gun with the left hand, so it wasn't a problem anymore.
"Lovely day, isn't it?" one of the passers-by asked her.
"Not as lovely as our pretty officer!" she was used to that. It happened to her all the time. Sometimes this kind of attention was nice, but most of the time she was just fed up. Unfortunately this wasn't a harassment, so she had to learn to ignore it. She had other things on her mind.
She was just passing near the playground, when her attention was dragged by a little boy. He wasn't playing with the others, just sitting away on the grass with his head down. She looked from side to side, but no one paid any attention to him. She frowned.
"Hey little man" she said as she sat on the grass next to him. He looked at her. She noticed that he had tear-stained face, but it was a very nice boy. His dark hair was impeccably trimmed, and the clothes perfectly matched.
"Hey..." he sobbed. "I'm not allowed to talk to strangers" Emma smirked. 'Smart kid' she thought.
"Okay, I see your point. But look" she pointed at her badge. He looked in the indicated direction.
"Are you a cop?" he asked, slowly ceased crying.
"Yes I am. And my name is Emma" she smiled, trying to encourage him.
"I'm Henry" he said shyly.
"See? We're not strangers anymore" she gave him another smile which he returned. "So how old are you buddy?" in response he showed her an answer on his fingers, four. "Are you here all alone?" she asked him, partly knowing the answer. The boy said nothing. "Henry?"
"I run away..." he finally confessed. Emma just waited until he'll be ready to tell her more. "...from my grandmother"
"Why?" she learned to ask simple questions.
"Because she doesn't like me. And she doesn't like my mom. They always argue" the blonde looked at him with understanding. There were a lot of families like his. "My mom is always sad, you know?" Henry continued his story. "She often cries at night. She thinks that I'm asleep, but I can hear her" as he was talking, he was playing with the single blade of grass. "My grandma says that she got what she deserved. I don't get it" he said with childlike simplicity. Emma listened him attentively. "I just wanted to make my mom smile. She always smiles when I give her my gifts" he grinned.
"So why were you crying?" the blonde asked once the boy was done with his story.
"I...I wanted to buy her flowers...so...I stole some money from my grandma when she was in the toilet" he said ashamed.
"Henry, it's not what good boys do" Emma gently rebuked him, but in fact she began to feel sorry for him.
"I know, I'm sorry..." he whispered.
"It's okay, just don't do that anymore" she smiled as he nodded.
"I went to the florist, but I didn't have enough money" Henry continued.
"So that's why you were crying?"
"Yes..." at that moment, Emma felt great sympathy for the boy. He was very mature for his age.
"I think that I have an idea" the blonde started.
"You do?" the boy looked at her with hope.
"Mhhm. What would you say buddy, if we go and buy these flowers?" she stood up and offered him a hand. He took it.
"Really?" the smile lit up his face. It was then when Emma saw his eyes. They were really lovely, brown and dark. They had something that made Emma's heart beat faster. For a while she thought that she saw Regina in them. 'You have something wrong with your head Emma' she thought. She took boy's hand and walked toward the florist.
She had to admit that this bouquet was perfect. Henry chose the most colorful flowers that were available. This bunch of flowers maybe wasn't super big, but it smelled and looked beautifully.
"You think she'll like it?" Henry asked as they left.
"She'll love it kid" she smiled. She was about to say something else, but her phone rang.
"Hi Emma, you won't believe!" she heard her colleague's excited voice.
"Okay Matt, surpise me"
"Cora Mills's grandson is missing! Can you believe that?!" he started babbling in amused voice, but the blonde was no longer listening. The phone, which she held in her right hand has slipped from her palm, which suddenly stiffened. She felt like she was about to throw up.
"There, you dropped it" not aware of anything, Henry handed her the phone. She took it with her left hand, but it wasn't much help since her whole body began to tremble.
"Emma? Are you still there? Or on the floor laughing your ass off?"
"Yeah" she tried to sound amused. "I'm in the park right now, want me to look for the kid?"
"I think that would be the right thing to do. You lucky one! I'm stuck in the office and you're looking for the rich kids. You owe me one, girl" he said and ended the call. The blonde looked down at the child.
"Henry, what's your mom's name?" she asked, though she was almost sure she didn't want to hear the answer.
"Regina" he replied with a smile. This name echoed in Emma's ears and she felt she was no longer able to stand. Practically she fell to the grass. Henry, thinking that this was some sort of a game, sat next to her. "We will now look at the shapes of the clouds?" his whisper was so innocent, that Emma had to turn his head away, so he won't see the tear running down her cheek. She quickly wiped it as she sniffled quietly. So the boy stood up and walked to the other side. He bent down and looked into Emma's eyes. "You know that my mom also does it?" he remarked sadly. And in that moment Emma knew that she fell in love with that little boy. He was so sweet, kind and caring and what's most important, he had his mother's eyes. His mother... At the thought of Regina, Emma's heart ached. She was a mother, probably she had a husband, but, as Henry said, she was sad... And the thing that hurt Emma the most was that it seemed that the brunette's forgotten about her and started a new life, where she didn't play even the smallest role...
The moment Emma left the apartment, Regina felt like something was torn from her, some part of her that was responsible for being able to feel. Her mother was furious. She almost disinherited her, but something stopped her. Regina then didn't know what it was, but the answer came a few months later as a man stood in front of her new apartment. She thought it would be another pointless date, that her mother's arranged for her. Oh, how wrong she was...
He didn't even bother to dress up properly. He get into her apartment, as if he was the host. Right away she felt that something was wrong. And then she began to be afraid.
"Mmm, such body..." he said and stepped closer. When she realized what he was about to do, it was too late. Without warning he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. He then threw her onto the bed. He began to undress her, ignoring the protests and cries. "Scream as loud as you want honey. Nobody is going to help you" he said hoarsely as his greedy lips began to kiss her. She tried to push him away, but he was too heavy. He grabbed her wrist and twisted backwards. She groaned quietly. "That's better".
She was paralyzed with fear. She hated his touch, voice and smell, but she no longer had the strength to scream. She just closed her eyes and waited until he's done, tears running down her cheeks. And it was when she thought about Emma, about the night with her. It was the first time when she really felt safe and...almost loved... She remembered her smile and her sweet scent. She smelled like cocoa and cinnamon... And it was all she needed. This brief memory of the girl gave her the strength to survive that night.
When he was done, he simply dressed up and left, leaving her naked, shaking and broken...
A few weeks later she discovered that she was pregnant. Of course, she could have sued him for rape, but she knew that her mother wouldn't let her. It would have caused too much scandal and it would be bad for the company. So did nothing and soon she fell into depression.
But then Henry was born. And he was like her small ray of sun in a stormy days. She named him after her father, whom she deeply loved. When he died, for a brief moment it was Emma who brought the love in her life again, but she was gone too soon to tell her that. Her mother cut off her all contacts and she wasn't able to find the blonde. And after a few years, she lost hope that the other woman still remembers her. Now he had only Henry.
So when her mother called her and told her that her son is missing, she got the same feeling, when she's lost Emma. She felt lost and empty...
"I can't believe my eyes! You made yourself a brat Emma?" the blonde heard a familiar male voice. When she turned her head and saw the police officer from the eastern district. She hated him. He was always rude and clearly tried to hit on her.
"Get lost Stevens" she snapped, because she really wasn't in the mood to handle him.
"Uh-uh, someone here is getting pissed" and at that, she stood up and she walked closer to him.
"I said get lost. He's not my kid" she tried to calm down, because she knew that Henry was watching.
"Ah, now I know! That must be this Mills' kid!" she was sure that almost half of the people in the park heard him. "You're a good piece of work, huh?" he asked the boy.
"Leave him alone Stevens"
"Hey cutie, what's wrong with you today?" and without any permission, he put his arms around her waist. Her reaction was immediate. She punched him in the face so hard, that she was sure that she broke his nose. "Fuck Swan!"
"I warned you" and with that, she turned to face Henry. "I'm sorry for that"
"It was cool!" he grinned. Emma thought that probably his simplicity, was his biggest advantage.
"We're not done" she heard Steven's voice, but when she turned, he was already gone.
"Well, I think that I should take you to your mom buddy" she started, suddenly feeling really sad.
"She's at work right now"
"Then lead the way" she said and followed after the boy.
Regina stood at the window, impatiently waiting for a call from the police, when the door to her office's opened. She turned around and she saw nobody else but her little boy, standing right in front of her.
"Hi mommy!" little boy shouted. "This is for you" he handed her a bouquet.
"Oh Henry" she took the gift with the large smile. She felt so happy and relieved at this moment.
"I'm sorry that I run away, but I really wanted to make you smile with those flowers!" and with that, she just hugged him and kissed his forehead. He thought that Emma was right, his mom really liked the flowers. Emma...right...this reminded him of something. "Here, this is also for you. But this one is not from me" he did as the blonde asked him to. Regina took the small piece of paper from his little hand. She felt strangely familiar smell of cocoa and cinnamon and this single scent made her heart skipped a beat. She looked at the paper.
'I think someone must have invented the prohibition sign, banning having such wonderful children. And we both know that you're terrible at obeying to these kind of signs'
There was nothing more there, but it was enough for Regina to let a tear of joy roll down her cheek. And the hope that has once expired, again lit up inside her. She was sure that it was Emma, who's found her son. And this time she wasn't going to let her mother destroy her life. Because when you find someone you want to spend forever with, you don't let them go, whether forever turns out to be a day, or a year or a hundred years...
I have to admit that this fic really got me. I never thought that it would turn into such a long story, but it somehow did. I hope you don't hate me that much for what I did to Regina... Anyway, I have another chapter in my mind so if you still want to read it, I'll be more than happy to write it to you c;